IUCN PUBLICATIONS NEW SERIES Supplementary Paper N° 39 SEALS Proceedings of a Working Meeting of Seal Specialists on Threatened and Depleted Seals of the World;, held under the auspices of the Survival Service Commission of IUCN 18-19 August 1972 at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada 1948 international Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 1110 Morges, Switzerland April 1973 SEALS Proceedings of a Working Meeting of Seal Specialists on Threatened and Depleted Seals of the World, held under the auspices of the Survival Service Commission of IUCN 18-19 August 1972 at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada Published with the financial assistance of the World Wildlife Fund International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 1110 Morges, Switzerland April 1973 - 3 - The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) was founded in 1948 and has its headquarters in Morges, Switzer- land; it is an independent international body whose membership comprises states, irrespective of their political and social systems, government departments and private institutions as well as international organiza- tions. It represents those who are concerned at man's modification of the natural environment through the rapidity of urban and industrial development and the excessive exploitation of the earth's natural resour- ces, upon which rest the foundations of his survival. IUCN's main pur- pose is to promote or support action which will ensure the perpetuation of wild nature and natural resources on a worldwide basis, not only for their intrinsic cultural or scientific values but also for the long-term economic and social welfare of mankind. This objective can be achieved through active conservation programmes for the wise use of natural resources in areas where the flora and fauna are of particular importance and where the landscape is especially beau- tiful or striking, or of historical, cultural or scientific significance. IUCN believes that its aims can be achieved most effectively by inter- national effort in cooperation with other international agencies such as UNESCO and FAO. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is an international charitable foundation for saving the world's wildlife and wild places. It was established in 1961 under Swiss law and has headquarters near those of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Its aim is to support the conservation of nature in all its forms (landscape, soil, water, flora and fauna) by raising funds and allocating them to projects, by publicity and by education of the general public and young people in particular. For all these activities it takes scientific and technical advice from IUCN. Although WWF may occasionally conduct its own field operations, it tries as much as possible to work through competent specialists or local organi- zations. Among WWF projects financial support for IUCN and for the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) have highest priority, in order to enable these bodies to build up the vital scientific and technical basis for world conservation and specific projects. Other projects cover a very wide range, from education, ecological studies and surveys to the establishment and management of areas as national parks and reserves and emergency programmes for the safeguarding of animal and plant species threatened with extinction. WWF's fund-raising and publicity activities are mainly carried out by National Appeals in a number of countries, and its international govern- ing body is made up of prominent personalities in many fields. - 5 - WORKING MEETING ON THREATENED AND DEPLETED SEALS CONTENTS Page List of Participants 7 Introduction 10 Report on the Meeting 12 Recommendations of the Meeting. 27 Papers N.B. Statements made in these Papers are necessarily tentative and should not be quoted without reference to the author concerned. 1. The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). K. Ronald 30 2. Saimaa Seal (Phoca hispida saimensis). From Red Data Book 42 3. Kurile harbour seal (Phoca kurilensis). Y. Naito and M. Nishiwaki 44 4. The Kurile harbour seal; pagophobic harbour seal. V. A. Bychkov 50 5. The Laptev walrus (Odobenus rosmarus laptevi Chapskii 1940), V. A. Bychkov 54 6. Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus). Novaya 56 Zemlya Population. V. A. Bychkov 59 7. Walrus in the Svalbard area. T. Øritsland 8. The Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) in Canada and 69 Greenland. A. W. Mansfield 9. Status of the Japanese sea lion. M. Nishiwaki 80 10. The Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi). K. W. Kenyon 82 - 6 - 11. The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi). 88 K. W. Kenyon 12. Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis). D. W. Rice 98 1.3. Current: Status of Seals in the Northern Hemisphere. D. E. Sergeant 113 14. Galapagos fur seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis). R. T. Orr 124 15. The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossi). R. Hofman, 129 A. Erickson and D. 3. Siniff 140 16. The Juau Fernandez fur seal. A. Aguayo 17. The Current Status of seals in the Southern Hemisphere. 144 R. 11. Laws Appendices 1. Note on Alternative Ecological Zones for Sealing in the Antarctic. A. Erickson 162 2. Status of Grey Seals in the Baltic. N. Bonner 164 3. Press Release. 175 – 7 – PARTICIPANTS IN THE WORKING MEETING ON THREATENED AND DEPLETED SEALS Professor K. Ronald (Chairman of the Meeting) College of Biological Sciences Department of Zoology University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada * * * * * * * * * Mr. K. W. Kenyon (Chairman, SSC Seal Group) Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Building 192, NSA Sand Point Seattle, Washington 90115, USA Dr. H. D. Fisher (Member, SSC Seal Group) Department of Zoology University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, British Columbia, Canada Dr. A. W. Mansfield (Member, SSC Seal Group) Fisheries Research Board of Canada P.O. Box 450 Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada Professor M. Nishiwaki (Member, SSC Seal Group) Marine Biology Division, Ocean Research Institute University of Tokyo Nakano, Tokyo 164, Japan Dr. D. S. Sergeant (Member, SSC Seal Group) Fisheries Research Board of Canada Arctic Biological Station P.O. Box 400 Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada ********* – 8 – By invitation Dr. T. Benjaminsen Dr. J. K. Ling Fiskeridirektoratets South Australian Museum Havforskningsinstitutt Adelaide 5000, South Australia Nordnesparken 2 Postboks 290 6 Dr. E. D. Mitchell 5011 Bergen, Norway Fisheries Research Board of Canada P.O. Box 450 Mr. W. N. Bonner Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec Institute for Marine Environmental Canada Research Seals Research Division Dr. Y. Naito c/o Fisheries Laboratory Ocean Research Institute Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK University of Tokyo Nakano, Tokyo 164, Japan Dr. A. W. Erikson University of Minnesota Mr. C. A. Repenning Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA US Department of Interior, Geological Survey Dr. R. J. Hofman Branch of Palcontology and Stratigraphy University of Minnesota 345 Middlefield Road Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Mr. F. O. Kapel Mr. J. C. Walsh Greenland Fisheries Investigation (representing I.S.P.A.) Jaegersborg Alle 1B I.S.P.A. 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark 655 Boyston Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116, USA Dr. C. W. Holloway (Ecologist, IUCN, Rapporteur) IUCN 1110 Morges, Switzerland * * * * * * * * * - 9 - Others who submitted Papers, but were unable to attend Dr. A. Aguayo Dr. R. T. Orr Departamento de Oceanologia California Academy of Sciences Universidad de Chile San Francisco, California 94118, USA Casilla 13-D Vina del Mar, Chile Mr. D. W. Rice National Marine Fisheries Service Dr. V. A. Bychkov Southwest Fisheries Center Central Laboratory on Nature P.O. Box 271 Conservation La Jolla, California 92037, USA Kravtchenko Street 12 Moscow V-331, USSR Dr. D. B. Siniff University of Minnesota Dr. R. M. Laws Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA British Antarctic Survey Monks Wood Experimental Station Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, UK Dr. T. Øritsland Fiskeridirectoratets Havforskning Institutt P.O. Box 2906 Bergen, Norway - 10 - INTRODUCTION The Survival Service Commission of the International Union for Conserva- tion of Nature and Natural Resources has two principal functions: first, to collect and disseminate data on threatened species and, secondly, to initiate action to prevent their extinction. The Commission has established a number of advisory groups of scientists to advise it on the formulation and execution of its programmes. Priority has been accorded to threatened species that require interna- tional cooperation for their effective conservation, and one of the earliest advisory groups to be formed was concerned with the study and conservation of seals. The Seal Group's business was conducted entirely by correspondence until mid-1972, when an opportunity arose to hold the first meeting of the Group. On August 14th-17th 1972, a Symposium on the Biology of the Seal was held at the University of Guelph, Ontario, under the sponsorship of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Inter- national Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF), the International Biological Programme (IBP) and the University of Guelph. Seal biologists from all parts of the world attended this meeting and the sponsors very kindly agreed to IUCN organizing a small working meeting of members of the Seal Group and other invited scientists at the end of the Symposium. The Working meeting was concerned with threatened and depleted seals of the world, and took place at the University of Guelph on August 18th-19th 1972. Working papers were presented on those seals currently listed in IUCN's Red Data Book as being under some threat of extinction, and on brief reviews of the status of all other seal species, with particular reference to populations that appeared to be in need of better manage- ment. Discussion of these topics was followed by a review of interna- tional research and conservation requirements, on which a number of re- commendations were approved, the determination of priorities for action, and an examination of sources of funding and technical cooperation.